


Fortify

by EmberForge



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 00:58:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17152316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberForge/pseuds/EmberForge
Summary: The scream of frustration she let out timed perfectly with a boom of thunder rolling overhead, and it satisfied her to think that the universe was in some way commiserating with her.





	Fortify

Beau slammed the door shut behind her, stomping angrily through the puddles on the sidewalk as the rain quickly started to soak through her sweater. The scream of frustration she let out timed perfectly with a boom of thunder rolling overhead, and it satisfied her to think that the universe was in some way commiserating with her. She tugged up her hood and started making a familiar trek, careful to avoid attention from anyone who crossed her path on the way. Soon enough she was wilfully ignoring the aches and pains of her body as she pushed it to climb up an old tree, pushing a hatch open and scrambling inside. Finally protected from the rain, she tore her soaked sweater off and tried to dry off the best that she could with an old blanket she found lying around. 

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she was aware of was a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes shot open with a gasp, and she looked around the room wildly as she instinctively jerked backward into the wall. After a moment of her eyes adjusting to the darkness around her, she eventually managed to focus on first the sound of a voice, and then the figure in front of her. It was Molly. "...come on, Beau. Deep breaths. It's just me. That's it." Once he saw her eyes focused on his, the corners of his lips tugged upward into a wan smile. He brought up a hand in front of her face, his index and middle fingers splayed out. "How many fingers at I holding up?"

"Molly?"

"Please, Beauregard. How many fingers?"

It was the use of her name that distributed her most. "Two. Molly, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question. This is technically my treehouse, after all. Speaking of, I'm amazed you even managed to make it up here, in your state." 

Beau was startled when Molly's hand suddenly reached out to touch her face. She ducked out of the way, immediately regretting the action when the quick movement made her headache pound. "What are you doing?!"

Molly was insistent, though, and slowly, so that she could see what he was doing, he reached out one hand to firmly cup the side of her chin while the other one started to prod her face. "Shh," he said. "Hold still. I'm trying to see what kind of damage was done." Beau hissed as he probed around a particular area above her right eye and realised that she could still feel the wound there sluggishly bleeding. "You should really see a doctor, you know."

Beau shook her head, dislodging herself from Molly's grip. "Nu-uh. No way. Doctors cost too much fucking money and ask too many questions. I'm fine." She saw Molly's eyebrows raise at the last part of her statement, but he didn't question her on it. Instead, he leaned back on his heels.

"Okay, well, that's all well and good, but that cut? It needs stitches. So here's what's going to happen. Either I drag you kicking and screaming to the ER before you die of infection and/or blood loss, or you let me take care of you. Your choice."

"Since when are you a fucking doctor?"

"I've had to take care of myself and Yasha on more than one occasion. Plus, I took one of those fancy first aid courses through the community college last summer. Practiced on an orange and everything. Thought it'd come in handy." The grin he’d put on faded. "So? What'll it be?"

“Fine. But I’m not happy about it," Beau grumbled.

"Duly noted." He went over and pulled a container out of one of the crates in the other side of the treehouse, then flicked on a high powered lantern that had been strung from the ceiling and beckoned Beau to sit beneath it. As Beau shuffled over, she felt a sharp twinge of pain in her side, which she clutched at instinctively as she settled under the lantern's amber glow. Molly's face grew even more concerned as he noticed the action, and he settled the supplies he had been sorting off to the side, gesturing towards her hands. "Let me see."

Beau reluctantly removed her hands, revealing a patch of skin that could be seen beneath her crop top. Already there was a brilliant purple bruise blooming across the right side of her lower torso. Molly reached out, and Beau managed to control her flinch as surprisingly warm hands started to palpate the area. "Tell me if you feel a sharp pain anywhere," he murmured. 

After a few minutes of prodding, Beau said, "It's just kind of an all around ache, I guess." Satisfied, Molly drew back.

"I don't think it's anything worse than bruising. Are you hurt anywhere else?" Beau shook her head. "Good. Now, let's get to the task at hand, shall we?" He shifted a giant first aid kit to sit between them.

"Why do you even have that?"

"Believe it or not, you're not the only one who's used this place as a refuge. I like to be prepared," he said as he pulled on a pair of gloves from the kit. "I think I would've been a great Boy Scout, don't you?"

Beau didn’t deign that with an answer.

Molly's hand moved again to hold her chin. "Anyways, hold still. Just a slight sting" Beau hissed as he rubbed an antiseptic pad over the wound on her forehead, but otherwise said nothing. He repeated the motion a few times, collecting a little pile of bloody towelettes between them before leaning back. It only took him another minute to tear open the little sterile packet containing the needle and thread. Resituating himself in front of her, he wiped her forehead one more time before meeting her gaze. "Ready?"

"Sure."

Beau grit her teeth at the first sharp pain, and the following tugging sensation had her grinding them in an effort not to squirm. 

“So. Who was it this time? The Clasp? Ophelia’s lackeys?”

“The Shepards.”

“Oof. That’s rough.”

“Yeah, well. Saw them tormenting a little kid. I couldn’t let those fuckers get away with that.”

Molly tilted her face a bit more towards the light. “You should be careful. Remember the last time you got into it with Lorenzo? Those bruises didn’t fade for weeks.”

“He wasn’t there. It was just some of his goons. You should see them- I definitely came out the winner.”

“So why’d you come here then? Seems to me your bed would be a lot more comfortable to recover in.”

Beau’s eyes were trained on the water still dripping past the window. “Dad got pissed when I came home and he saw my face. Decided I didn’t want to deal with that shit on top of all the other shit, so I left. Thought I’d hang out here for a while until things cooled off.”

“That was half of a plan, I suppose. Though you could’ve been in big trouble if you had a concussion on top of the rest of... this.” He took away the hand on her chin briefly to wave generally at her person.

“I’ve had enough concussions to know what to look out for. I was fine.”

“I think you and I have different definitions of fine, but alright.”

“Asshole.”

“Darling.”

Molly finished off his final stitch and finished dressing the wound before breaking an ice pack and handing it to Beau for her side as he cleaned up the rest of the supplies. He stuffed all the trash into a plastic grocery bag to toss out later, and then smiled at her. “Want some company?”

“Don’t suppose I can kick you out of your own treehouse, can I?”

“Nope!” Molly gestured her towards a bean bag, then busied himself on the other side of the treehouse. As if all the energy had suddenly drained out of her, Beau instantly sank into the cushion, barely holding back a moan as the tension in her back eased. Molly flopped down in the beanbag next to hers, a half read book in his hands. “You can sleep, if you want. I’m just going to catch up on my reading.”

“Bullshit,” Beau wanted to say, but instead she felt her eyes already closing, and in moments she was fast asleep. Molly grinned down at her, his tail flicking idly behind him as he watched the rain fall outside.

**Author's Note:**

> Found this in my notes. COMPLETELY forgot I ever came up with this idea. Part of me wants this to be a multichaptered, fleshed out story, but the more realistic part of me is yelling that I have no idea what that story’d be about. I hope you like it though!


End file.
